When the lights dimmed over a sold-out crowd and Taylor Swift rose out of the stage to perform her 1989 set for the first time in Paris last month, she revealed one of several dramatic updates to her Eras Tour outfits. In this case, she had traded neatly matching beaded sets by Roberto Cavalli for a new look by the Italian label: intentionally mismatched, glittery crop tops and skater skirts, paired with two shin y Louboutin boots in two different colors. On the first night, she wore a pink crop and a blue skirt. Soon enough, she also debuted variations in purple and orange as well as blue and yellow.
These unconventional pairings were an intentional shift on the "Cruel Summer" singer's part, even if they weren't necessarily an Easter egg. Roberto Cavalli creative director Fausto Puglisi revealed in an interview with Women's Wear Daily published on June 11 that Swift "insisted" on having colorblock costumes to represent 1989's bubbly, big-tent pop sound for the tour's European leg. “I love it because it reminds me immediately of Miami Beach,” Puglisi told the outlet.
Taylor Swift unveiled colorblocked costumes to wear during her 1989 set on the Eras Tour's European leg.
Puglisi designed more than 20 Eras Tour costumes for Swift alongside her longtime stylist, Joseph Cassell Falconer. Some referenced the general motifs of her previous albums, like the sequined snake embellishing her Reputation jumpsuit. (Snakes are the unofficial mascot of her sixth studio record.) Others nod to the silhouettes and colors Swift wore on earlier tours.
In the case of 1989's crop top and skirt sets, the designer wanted to modify the playful sets Swift wore on the album's world tour in 2015. “When we were talking about designing for that section of the tour, I knew that Taylor used to wear these flattering A-line skirts, which are very American, fresh, young, and cool, but I wanted to create something different," Puglisi said in the WWD interview. "I wanted to add some fashion with a capital F.”
At first, those manifested as matching beaded crop tops in shades of blue, orange, green, and pink, with a twin skirt and Christian Louboutin ankle boots. Then for the European leg of the tour, Puglisi, Swift, and Cassell introduced mix-and-match sets with ombré shades of yellow, blue, pink, purple, and green. The glitter-coated Louboutin ankle boots were accordingly updated to coordinate.
Roberto Cavalli creative director Fausto Puglisi told WWD that Swift "insisted" on the addition of colorblocked costumes.
On previous legs of the tour, Swift performed the 1989 set in a matching beaded set by Roberto Cavalli.
Puglisi's contributions to the tour on behalf of Roberto Cavalli also include two fringed dresses for the Fearless set. Both pieces nod to some of the "You Belong With Me" singer's earliest tour and music video outfits, from the first version of Fearless released in 2008.
“The queen deserves a collection," Puglisi said of Swift's extensive tour wardrobe. "She’s a queen nowadays — look at the way she excites the people."
The collection has only gotten more expansive since the start of the Eras Tour's European leg in May. Swift unveiled new tour outfit variations for all but one of her so-called eras at the Paris, France, kickoff. Those included a bright red Alberta Ferretti dress for Folklore and a sequined, sherbet orange bodysuit by Versace for Lover. Vogue also reported that Swift had 250-plus custom pairs of Louboutins made for the tour.
Reputation, Swift's sixth album, is the only one whose corresponding costume has not had any kind of update during the duration of the tour. Some fans posit that it's a hint toward the status of the album's "Taylor's Version" re-recording. Puglisi, who designed the one-legged jumpsuit, did not comment on its hidden meaning during his WWD interview.
Swift's colorful 1989 sets have also allowed the pop star to play with fashion diplomacy, when she coordinates the top and skirt's color to the palette of the national flag for the country she's visiting.
There's a chance Taylor Swift could mix the blue and pink sets in an allusion to the U.K. flag when she takes the stage in Liverpool, England, next weekend. Fashion journalist and Taylor Swift fan Sarah Chapelle (who analyzed the singer's Tortured Poets Department fashion for Marie Claire) noted that Swift has scrambled her Roberto Cavalli tops and skater skirts to wink at her tour stop's host country when the colors align. In Stockholm, Sweden, she wore blue and yellow in a seeming reference to the Swedish flag, for example.
Editor's note: This post has been updated.
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